Watching the watcher's back
by beingrowdy
Summary: Just a missing scene from episode 17 (the first episode with La Cour back on the team). Mainly focused on Ingrid's thoughts after the boys leave the office in the beginning of the episode. Please note that English is not my first language - feel free to correct me, but please do so kindly :-)


**Rejseholdet/Unit One: Missing scene from episode 17 – the first episode with La Cour back on the team.**

**This story takes place right after the first briefing in the office when Fischer and La Cour are about to leave for interviews and crime scene investigation.**

"Coming?" Fischer's amber colored eyes were focused on the pieces of paper Ingrid had just given him, and it was clear that mentally he was already kilometers away and already working on the assignment.

La Cour just nodded and with one last look at Ingrid and JP at the table got up and followed his friend out of the office.

The scene was perfectly normal, actually it was so normal it was scary: La Cour had been off the team for almost half a year and still he managed to slip right into place, like he had never left in the first place. As always, Ingrid was amazed at the younger man's ability to effortlessly read both people and situations and blend in with them. Beside her, Gaby had already started calling up the parents of the missing woman, and JP was busy studying the maps, but Ingrid stayed where she was, lost in her thoughts. Somehow JP must have sensed her lack of focus because he turned to her with a questionable look in his light grey eyes.

"Problems?", he then asked.

Ingrid did not really know what to answer. She did not really have a problem, but at the same time something did not feel right. She could not shake the uneasy feeling that while La Cour might blend in perfectly, he was still affected by the horrible events in the fall. The brown eyes were still haunted by the fear and confusion which had dominated them during the case with the little boy those frightful days in October. And she had just sent that man to a crime scene on his own…

"Ingrid?", JP's soft voice interrupted her thoughts and she focused her attention on her second in command.

"It's just… La Cour", she finally confessed.

"What about him?", JP asked, and the casual tone was only betrayed by the look in his eyes. So, he had felt it too…

"I don't know", Ingrid said with a frown and was in no way lying. She was not really sure what it was exactly, she was afraid of.

"It's just…"

"You're not sure he's ready to come back?", JP asked, but Ingrid shook her head.

"No, no it's not that", she said and continued, "When I said to Ulf it was time I meant it, but still".

Usually being very well articulated, Ingrid was frustrated with her lack of formulation skills, but fortunately JP helped her out:

"But you still feel he needs a little watching over?"

Ingrid smiled, glad that her ever-loyal second in command could transform thoughts into words.

"Yes"

"Well, nothing wrong with that – it's been almost seven months, after all", JP stated, "And strictly speaking is he not alone: Fischer's with him, he'll watch his back", he continued and with those words turned back to the maps, leaving Ingrid once again alone with her thoughts.

JP was right. La Cour was not on his own, and despite his rebellious nature and quick temper Ingrid knew, without a doubt, that Fischer was more than capable of watching his friend's back. It was funny: Usually, when she sent the boys out on an assignment she depended on La Cour to be in charge. As annoying as it was, Ingrid knew that he was by far the best to handle Fischer. Over the years she felt that she had earned Fischer's respect, and most of the time she also felt confident that he followed her orders, but deep inside she also knew that the real difference between La Cour and the rest of them was that Fischer listened to them because it was required – he listened to La Cour because he wanted to. Under normal circumstances this knowledge made things easy because she knew that La Cour would keep Fischer in line and stop him before he did something stupid. La Cour had a gift for protecting Fischer from both enemy forces, but maybe more importantly also from himself when needed.

When she worried now, it was not because she was afraid that Fischer did not watch La Cour's back, because she knew that he always did. No, her worries were if Fischer, the same way that La Cour did with him, could keep La Cour safe from himself. Ingrid's true conflict was whether the watcher of the team had someone to watch his back.

"Ingrid?", Gaby's voice brought her back from her musings, and she focused on the blond woman.

"I have the number for the parents – do you want me to call them?"

Ingrid shook her head,

"No it's okay – I'll do it", she said and took the piece of paper with a grateful smile to her assistant.

She was in no way done worrying, but as a mother she also knew that there were times where you could trust your children, times where you wanted too, and finally times where you just had too – her current situation feel under the last category.


End file.
